I'm Better
by AnimeAddict1059
Summary: On the night when Kushina gave birth to her children, a masked shinobi managed to enter the barrier that protected them and extracted the Kyuubi from her, which rampaged on the village. Seeing as there was no other choice, Minato sealed half of the Kyuubi into Naruto, and the other half to himself. But why did Naruto's twin sister receive the other half instead of him?
1. Chapter 1: Sealing him to his Fate

"No!" Kushina screamed as Minato tried to take her son from her. Minato slowly withdrew his hand and looked at Kushina with a pleading expression. Kushina didn't look at him.

A roar suddenly sounded off in the distance, followed by a huge blast.

"Kushina…please. I know you, of all people would understand. Please…give him to me." Minato said.

Kushina's hold on the baby became tighter as Minato made another attempt to take him. Again, Minato waited for Kushina, which wasn't a wise idea since the Kyuubi was rampaging on the village and was killing hundreds of people every minute.

"Why?" Kushina said. "Why does it have to be our son? Why does he have to be the Kyuubi's container? You should know! You should know the pain of being a jinchuuriki! You of all people! I don't want my son to suffer the way I did!" she yelled, tears streaming down her face. "To maintain the balance of the beasts? Why must you sacrifice yourself? Why must Naruto be sacrificed?"

"To sacrifice one's son is the same as sacrificing one's nation. You know I don't have a choice. The village expects me to save them, not as a father, but as the Yondaime Hokage." Minato said.

Kushina eyes widened at Minato's statement. She couldn't believe what Minato was saying!

Minato continued, "It's never easy when you're Hokage, Kushina. You KNOW I'm against this too! Do you think I don't know what I'm doing? I'm cursing my own son to a lifetime of pain and suffering, and what's worse is that I won't be there for him!"

Kushina gasped. "D-Don't…don't tell me that you…are y-you…?"

Minato nodded. "I'm gonna use the Shiki Fujin. I'm gonna use it to seal half of the Kyuubi into me and use the Eight-Signed Seal to seal the other half to Naruto. It's the best I can do since I'm not a jinchuuriki."

At this, Kushina completely broke down. She pounded Minato's chest angrily as tears fell from her eyes. Minato made no attempt to stop her. Instead, he watched her sadly, he felt his heart being broken inside of him.

"Kushina… promise me… Please… tell Naruto… Tell him that…that I never meant any of this. Tell him I'm so sorry..." At this point, tears poured from Minato's eyes. He couldn't stop his tears from falling. It broke his heart to see his own family fall apart in a flash. It felt like an eternity ago when he was swelling with pride as he watched his beautiful wife resting on the bed with their newborn children, Naruto and Keiko.

Now, here he was. Persuading Kushina to give Naruto to him and possibly make the worst mistake in his entire life. The only thing that comforted him right now is that his little girl, Keiko, was brought to a safe place. Kushina and Naruto were supposed to be there too but the masked shinobi got Kushina while he distracted him with Naruto.

He only managed to put Naruto in a temporary safehouse because one, it was the only place with a near enough distance so that his chakra won't be diminished by a lot. Two, because the place where Keiko is didn't have his seal on it. And he was currently cursing himself for it.

By the time he got to Kushina, the shinobi had already extracted the Kyuubi from her. Seeing as Kushina's welfare was his top priority for now, he teleported to the house with Naruto. After he placed Kushina beside Naruto, he set off and fought with the masked shinobi. He managed to break the contract between him and the Kyuubi, but it still continued it's rampage.

Now, he was forced to resort to sealing it inside his own son, who was the only available vessel. But Kushina won't allow him to do it.

But finally, he got her to agree to his plan. Getting into position, he put up a barrier around them to trap the fox. Then, he performed the seal. Kushina watched it all with great sadness. Minato managed to seal half of the Kyuubi inside himself and he prepared the ceremonial altar and he laid Naruto down on it. Then, with a soft, "Fuuin..." he finished the sealing process. He fell backwards and Kushina immediately ran to him. Screw her aching and sore body which had just gone through childbirth and bijuu extraction. She had to get to Minato's side.

Once she arrived next to him, she almost screamed. Minato was...BREATHING!

"Minato?" Kushina whispered uneasily.

Minato mumbled something incoherent and rolled over. Tears of joy fell from her eyes and she hugged Minato tightly, never wanting to let him go.

A soft cry broke her contact with Minato and she spotted her baby. She picked him up and cuddled him until he went back to sleep.

Little did they know, that the half of the Kyuubi that Minato had sealed within himself, had somehow, transported itself to his daughter, Keiko. The villagers saw the child glow brightly in white as the transfer became complete and they rejoiced, seeing this as a sign that the Yondaime had defeated the Kyuubi and had even extracted it's power to give it to his child. The villagers praised Keiko as a hero when Minato, Kushina and Naruto came back to the village.

But when they saw Naruto, they noticed three whisker marks on either side of his face which weren't there before. When they took a closer look at him, he suddenly glowed orange and every shinobi in the village recognized the chakra signature at once.

The Kyuubi's chakra which was tainted with evil.

When Naruto opened his eyes, everyone was shocked to see that his eyes had become red with slits in the middle. The villagers, especially those who had lost family members to the fox, growled and became angry.

The fox was inside the Yondaime's son!

They roared and attempted to take the child away so that they can rip him, limb from limb. Hundreds of Anbu immediately came to protect the Yondaime and his family.

Kushina and Minato looked at each other and then at their children. Their gaze fell on Naruto and for a split second, fear and anger shone in their eyes...

* * *

A/N: Okay! How was it? It's a bit short I know... but it'll get longer-ish... er...

Read and Review! Please?


	2. Chapter 2: Sixth Birthday

**October 8 (6 years later)**

"Daddy! Daddy! Look!" yelled a little girl with shoulder length red hair and bright eyes as blue as the ocean.

Minato looked up from the book he was reading and watched his precious little girl do a rather sloppy taijutsu stance and started kicking her surroundings randomly. Once she was finished, she smiled brightly at him.

"That was very good, Keiko!" Minato told her. Kushina, who was sitting beside him, clapped her hands. Keiko flashed a grin at them and began doing it again, ignoring the sweatdrops from her parents.

From inside the house, a boy, no older than the girl outside, with bright blond hair and similar blue eyes, looked at the scene outside. Soon to be six-year old Naruto Namikaze watched as his father stood up and began demonstrating a few kicks to his sister. His sister followed his actions and performed the kicks sloppily. Naruto decided to try it too and followed his father's demonstration with absolute perfection. Happy with what he did, he ran outside and said, "Tou-chan! Kaa-chan! Mite! Mite!(look! look!)"

Kushina and Minato looked at Naruto who was running excitedly towards them. He stopped in front of them and said, "Tou-chan! Kaa-chan! Look what I can do!"

He did what Minato did earlier and copied it perfectly. Minato's jaw dropped and looked at Kushina. She had a worried expression on her face. Keiko looked like she was about to cry.

"Ahem... Naruto. That was a rather... b-bad performance. Look at Keiko. She did it perfectly, didn't you sweety?" Minato said, turning to face the young girl. She wiped the tears that were about to fall from her eyes and nodded.

"But... but I..." Naruto stammered.

"Keiko's was better. Don't ever forget that." Minato said.

"But... didn't... didn't you-"

"Naruto," Minato said warningly. "That's enough."

Naruto was a little taken aback but he collected himself and glared at Minato, which greatly surprised him, and ran back to the house, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Kushina stood up, about to follow him, but Keiko held her hand tightly, not wanting her to leave. Minato watched Naruto's retreating back.

After they took Naruto and Keiko home that night six years ago, Minato and Kushina's feelings for their son started to change. They wanted to be fair to him. They really did. They wanted him to feel loved even though he was the jinchuuriki. But as the years passed by, their attitude became much like the villagers. The trauma they had to experience that night affected both parents greatly. Especially Minato, whose friends died at the hands of the beast. Many of them suffered before they finally rested in peace. Most were his subordinates, underlings, ninjas he had grown close with during the time of war. All of them, gone.

Now, whenever he looked at his son, he sometimes saw the fox in his place. Minato always denied these thoughts and erased them from his mind as soon as they entered it. He always reminded himself that Naruto was his son.

"Kushina... I gotta to. They need me back at the office." Minato said, hoping to change the mood.

Kushina kept staring at the door which Naruto had gone through earlier but she managed to process what Minato said and replied, "Okay... but try and get back early tonight."

"Hai. Hai." Minato said and left them to get his Hokage Robes.

* * *

"What's this again, Danzo?" Minato sighed as Danzo handed over a file.

"Due to a rather high demand by both ninja and civilians, we want you to sign this so they can have permission to have a festival on October 10th. It is to be in honor of Namikaze Keiko and yourself, for defeating the Kyuubi. Obviously, they think it was worth celebrating. Well, celebrating and honoring those who died on that day. Personally, I'm against it but it is you who decides, not me."

"You're always against everything, Danzo." Minato said. "But still, that festival is pretty good. A whole day commemorated to those who willingly laid down their lives for the village. Sure, why not?" He grabbed a pen and signed on the dotted line and stamped it to make it official.

"There. I expect they will be having preparations done by tomorrow?"

"Yes. We should be ready by the 10th." Danzo said.

"Good." Minato glanced at his wristwatch. "Oh, time to go home. I'll see you then, Danzo."

* * *

**October 10th (Naruto and Keiko's sixth**** birthday)**

"Wow!" the now 6-year old Keiko exclaimed as they walked through the streets of Konoha.

The village was buzzing with happiness and exitement as the festival rolled on. It was nothing grand really. This festival was just like the others. Lots of shops had paper lamps hanging from their windows or signs or roofs that had the name Namikaze written on it. Of course, the ever present smaller stands filled the streets, waiting for customers with their colorful wares that were popular with the children. Delicious smells wafted from every direction as a lot of food stands were stationed everywhere.

"Daddy! Daddy! What's that? What are those? Oh! Oh! I want that!" Keiko screamed at her parents.

Minato and Kushina just bared with her and let her drag them along the streets. Finally, they stopped at a place where a man was letting people catch goldfish from a tank with paper nets that he sold. Minato bought enough nets to keep Keiko busy so he and Kushina can rest for a while.

"So, how's the festival?" Minato asked Kushina.

"It's okay...though I just wish Naruto could've come with us..." Kushina answered.

Minato rubbed her shoulders. "I know... but you know how people get when he's around. We're just protecting him."

"But still..."

"Shh... Let's just enjoy the festival, ne?"

"I guess so."

"Come on. Lighten up! I heard there's gonna be a special program later on in the Stadium. Let's watch it."

* * *

"Sigh..." Naruto lifted his head from his pillow and looked outside the window. "So, it's gonna be another boring birthday, huh?"

It was always like this. Every year, on his and Keiko's birthday, his parents would take Keiko to someplace special while he was left behind. It's not like he didn't want to enjoy himself. He gave up on ever going outside because of the incident that happened when he was four.

He tried going outside and as soon as the villagers saw him, they chased him and called him hurtful things. Then, they forced him into an alley and began to corner him. But just as the mob was about to beat him up, an ANBU with a dog mask shielded him from them. Another ANBU with a weasel mask picked up Naruto and took him back home.

"I wonder if Keiko is enjoying her day..." Naruto said as he stood up.

Suddenly, someone grabbed Naruto and placed a drugged handkerchief on his face. Naruto tried to free himself but the drug was slowly taking effect. As he passed out, he managed to see the two ninjas who did it to him.

One of them said, "Gotta get you ready for the main event today, eh?"

The other one snickered evilly.

* * *

"This is a good seat." Kushina commented as she sat down on the cushioned furniture. They were positioned at the best spot in the entire stadium, but of course, nothing less for the Hokage right?

"I wonder what they're going to present? This program ought to be interesting, ne Keiko-chan?" Minato said.

"I'm bored. I want to catch another fishie!" said Keiko, pouting.

"C'mon... don't you want to watch this?" Minato asked her.

"No!"

Minato sweatdropped.

* * *

"Urghh... where am I?" Naruto asked as he regained consciousness.

"Hehehe... you woke up just in time, demon." said a man attaching chains to him.

"Wha-? Let me go!"

The man just ignored him and left.

"HEY! Let me go! I don't like it here! Help!"

* * *

"Look! It's about to start!"

A man walked out to the middle of the field and said, "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! And of course, WELCOME to our Yondaime Hokage and his family, especially little Keiko-chan. Six years ago today, a nine-tailed demon fox wreaked havoc on our peaceful village, taking the lives of hundreds of our comrades. But our honorable Hokage, the most powerful ninja, defeated the beast and taunted it by removing it's power and gifting it to his daughter, Namikaze Keiko! A big hand, please!"

Once the crowd finally stopped clapping, the emcee continued. "Now, as we remember those heroes who selflessly laid down their lives for us, let's get the demon who caused it all and take out all of our pent-up anger on him! Ladies and gentlemen! I give you, and he's yours for the taking, the DEMON BRAT!"

From the sides, a large wooden platform had been taken out and placed in the middle. And on the platform was a small child with blond hair, chained to a post.

Kushina let out a gasp. "Thats... that's Naruto!"

Indeed it was. Naruto looked up at the humongous crowd calling him names and screaming at him angrily. Some even threw stuff at him. But he didn't pay them any attention. Instead, he kept on looking at them as though he was in some sort of trance.

"Now," the emcee said. "Come at him! Come on people! Don't be shy! Let's show this demon how we have suffered because of it's actions!"

One by one, people left their seats and came to the center of the stadium. One man climbed up to the platform and cracked his knuckles in front of Naruto. "You know, demon. If it wasn't for you, my whole family would be alive right now. And you know what? I'm taking revenge for them! Die, demon scum!" he said and punched Naruto's stomach.

Naruto yelped and coughed up some blood. But the man didn't let up, he kept on punching him and after he was satisfied, he left a bloody and bruised Naruto moaning for help. Then the next person came, then the next, then the next. They all hurt Naruto until he was freed from the chains that bound him.

Kushina couldn't take any more of this. She felt herself about to throw up. Her baby boy, was being mauled by the villagers, or rather killed. Tears were falling from her eyes. She wanted to do something, anything, just so she could free him from his torture.

Minato, who was sitting beside her, also felt sick as he watched another man kick his son on his side. Naruto coughed up more blood. But still, they didn't let up.

"Well, the show is getting on quite greatly, Hokage-sama." said a man on his side. He was the one in charge of this.

"Great? _Great?!_ My son is being killed out there! Stop them! Stop them right now!" Minato yelled at him.

"Ah-ah... not so fast. If you continue with that decision, then I'll take your word that you LIKE the demon that almost destroyed our village?" he smirked.

"Wha? That's my son out there! Why are we getting into that topic?"

"Because... to the villagers, if you help out the demon in any way, they will think of you as a disgrace. Because, imagine, a demon attacked our village, killed hundreds of us, and almost cost the life of our Hokage. Now, imagine a person helping that demon. Now do you see the picture? Your entire reputation will be tarnished."

Minato clenched his fists. Was this guy serious? Was he really making him choose between his reputation and the life of his son?

"Well?"

"Minato!"

Minato's attention snapped back to Kushina. She was pointing to Naruto with a horrified expression on her face.

Minato looked at Naruto and his eyes widened. A man had taken a sword and stabbed Naruto with it.

Minato finally snapped and pinned the man in charge to the wall.

"If you don't stop this right now... I swear you'll never live to see another event held in this place ever again! Now stop them!"

Trembling with fear, the man signaled the emcee to stop it and ANBU came to herd the protesting villagers outside. Minato and Kushina immediately went to Naruto.

Hearing footsteps nearing him, Naruto tensed up and backed up, saying, "P-Please... no more. D-Don't...don't hurt m-me..."

Kushina ran forward and kneeled in front of Naruto. "Naruto... shh...shh... it's alright."

"M-Mommy?" Naruto said and slowly looked up. When he saw that it was indeed Kushina, he looked a little relieved.

"Mo...mmy..."

He was about to crawl over to them when he stopped and clutched at the wound that was stabbed with the sword earlier. He coughed up blood again and lay flat on the ground.

"NARUTO!" yelled Minato and Kushina. Naruto had finally given in to the pain and started breathing heavily. Everytime he breathed out, a strange gurgling sound would come from his mouth but a few seconds later, blood would come out.

"Help me hold him!" Minato said. "I'll take him to the hospital using my Hiraishin Jutsu. Come on."

* * *

A/N: So, there's chapter 2. So, what do you think of this? It's a little sneak peak on Naruto' s childhood.

**If you're looking for some clarification about this, please visit my profile and you should see it there. Feel free to PM me or Review your question so I can answer it BUT just to be clear, I won't answer any questions that might spoil the story.**

PLEASE! READ AND REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3: The Graduation Exams

"Alright. Just to remind all of you, the Graduation Exams are tomorrow so study hard tonight and good luck." Iruka said and right after his sentence, the bell rang. Students slowly moved outside of the classroom, too nervous about the upcoming Exams to talk.

Iruka sighed and arranged the papers on his desk. Once he was done, he did one last sweeping look on the room and noticed one of his students was left behind. He was no doubt, sleeping. Sighing once again, he went over to him.

"Oi! Naruto! How long are you gonna keep sleeping?!" Iruka said, shaking the blond awake.

Naruto lifted his head from his desk and looked up sleepily. "Huh? What s'matter?" he slurred.

"Seriously Naruto…" Iruka groaned. "If you're going to keep up this attitude of yours then you might not be able to graduate!"

"Hai. Hai." muttered Naruto, cleaning out his ear.

"Naruto, please. This is for your own good! Please. Your grades are the lowest ones in class. You keep this up and you might not become a shinobi like you'd always dream you would be. Ne, what about being Hokage? Doesn't that matter to you anymore?"

"Geez, no need to turn this into a sermon, Iruka-jiji."

"J-Jiji!? Why you little…" Iruka screamed and ran after Naruto all around the classroom. Naruto laughed at him and ran even faster around the room in circles with Iruka still following.

Iruka smiled at the sight of the smile on Naruto's face and the sound of his laughter. He, like the other villagers had been hard on the boy, but he came to realize the errors of his ways and change his attitude towards Naruto, who was extremely happy at the idea of having someone to call as a friend.

"Ja ne! Iruka-jiji!" Naruto yelled and bolted out of the room.

"Oi! Naruto! Come back!" yelled Iruka.

"No way!" said a distant shout from Naruto.

Iruka scratched his head. "Geez, still the same as always, Naruto. There's never really a dull moment with you." Then his expression became worried. "Naruto, PLEASE, just at least remember to study tonight."

* * *

"Okay... so the Exams are tomorrow... do I need to study?" Naruto said to himself as he walked out of the Academy. "Maybe I'll ask Mom for advice..."

"Hey Keiko!"

Naruto's head snapped towards the direction the voice had come from. His parents were standing at the gates, waiting for Keiko.

'Of course... who else?' Naruto thought and continued on his way. 'Forget asking them for advice. I'm training on my own!'

With that, Naruto jumped over the Academy's walls and into the forest towards his favorite training ground.

* * *

"Rasengan!"

_CRAAAACCKK! *smashing*_

Naruto let the blue swirl of chakra on his right hand disappear and wiped his forehead. He looked at the damage he did on the tree.

"Hmm... Not bad..." he mumbled. Not bad was actually just an understatement. The entire tree had disintegrated from the attack. Tiny bits of wood now littered the ground as well as a small crater.

"Now that I got Rasengan checked off of my list, what should I do now?" Naruto said as he sat down under a tree. He formed a crossed with his fingers and said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A clone poofed into existence beside him and saluted to Naruto.

"Ne, I'm bored. Wanna have a quick spar?" Naruto asked the clone.

"Sure boss!" the clone energetically answered.

"Yosh!" Naruto said, standing up. The clone followed after him as he took his position on one side of the field. The clone took up the other side. Their eyes locked onto each other and Naruto nodded his head, signaling their spar to start.

At his signal, his clone immediately ran forward, a kunai in it's right hand and some shurikens on the other. It threw them accurately towards Naruto's direction. Naruto smirked inwardly, already foreseeing the attack. He quickly shunshin'ed and reappeared behind his clone, his hands forming the handsign for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Seconds later, a new clone appeared and the both of them worked together to form a Rasengan.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled as he pushed the swirling chakra forwards. His eyes widened when he found out that the Rasengan came in contact with nothing.

"Got ya!" said a voice behind him. Before he could react, the clone swung it's foot and it came in contact with his side and sent him flying towards a tree. Naruto slowly stood up, wiping some blood from his mouth. "Heh. Not bad. But I aint done yet!"

Naruto charged forward, and positioned his fist. The clone went on the defensive side and used it's arms to block Naruto's incoming attacks.

"**Bunshin Taiatari!** (Clone Body Blow!)" Naruto yelled as he charged forward with four new clones behind him. Two of the clones ran faster until they were ahead of Naruto and attacked the enemy clone. The enemy clone tried intercepting the attack but was stopped by the other clones that Naruto created. Naruto was about to do the body slam when an idea came to his head. The enemy clone's eyes widened when it heard Naruto yell, "**Futon: Renkudan!** (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet)

Naruto breathed in and kept the air trapped inside his stomach, all the while channeling chakra to it. Then, he blew the air out and released a highly compressed air ball from his mouth. And in one swift movement, the ball headed towards the clones. A huge explosion followed.

Naruto coughed up some dust and his eyes widened at the jutsu's effect. In the place where his clones once stood was a very large crater and the area around it had been completely leveled. Numerous trees fell down and the grass near it were blown off.

"Whoa..."

* * *

**Graduation Exams Day**

"Next, Uchiha Sasuke!"

The girls all around them immediately shrieked and yelled out Sasuke's name in shrill tones. Sasuke's tried his best to ignore the girls and went to stand in front of the examiners desk.

"Alright, Sasuke... let's see... do these jutsus in the same order that I say them. Ready?" Iruka said, looking up from his clipboard.

Sasuke nodded mutely and Iruka started saying the jutsus. "Do the Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu and follow it with any jutsu of your choice."

Without another word, Sasuke immediately formed the handsigns for the Clone Jutsu (Academy Level) and produced two clones. Then he, together with his clones, did the handsigns for the Transformation Technique and his and the clones' forms instantly changed to that of his brother Itachi. Then, he did the hansigns for Serpent, Dragon, Rabbit, and Tiger and yelled, "**Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!** (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique). Thankfully, Sasuke was careful of where to aim so no unwanted accidents occured.

"Amazing performance, Sasuke." Iruka smiled at him and said, "Congratulations! You pass!"

Iruka nudged his partner, Mizuki. Mizuki picked up one of the headbands that were placed neatly on the desk and handed it to Sasuke. For the first time during the exams, Sasuke smiled. He then bowed down to the examiners and took his leave, never knowing that he was going to be clobbered by his mother.

"Okay, next we have Namikaze Keito!"

Cheers and yells erupted around the room but it was mostlly the boys who made the noise.

A red-haired girl with long red hair that reached a little bit below her shoulder blades and bright blue eyes took her place in front of the desk. She wore a short and girly version of Minato's old genin jacket that only covered up to her waist over a fishnet shirt. She also wore a mini skirt over a white tight-fitting shinobi pants and black shinobi sandals.

"Ready Keiko?" Iruka asked.

"Ready." Keiko said.

"Okay. Do these jutsus: The Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu twice."

Keiko snorted and did the jutsus fairly quickly and with great ease. The others watched in awe as she completed the task and yelled loudly when she finished. Iruka and Mizuki smiled approvingly and didn't need telling twice when they gave her her headband and congratulated her.

Keiko lazily took it from them and walked off without a word, confidently putting the headband on and smirking as she closed the classroom door.

It took a few more minutes before the noise finally died down. Iruka held up his clipboard and called out, "Namikaze Naruto!"

A series of whispers flooded the room as Naruto walked up to the desk.

"Hey. Isn't that the loser with the low grades?"

"Yeah. D'you think he'll be able to pass?"

"No way he'll graduate!"

"How can that be? I mean, his sister's THE Namikaze Keiko!"

"Yeah! I mean, did you see her performance?"

Iruka looked at Naruto with a worried expression on his face. 'Naruto... I hope you remembered to study...'

"U-Um... Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Oh! Yes. Yes. Ah...Naruto, you do... the Clone Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu twice and a jutsu of your own choice."

Naruto stared at him blankly. Most of the students mentally yelled, 'Ouch!'

"Could...could you repeat that?" Naruto asked.

Iruka groaned and facepalmed. "Naruto... If this was a mission and the situation was really grave, you can't ask your team leader to repeat his orders."

"Yeah I know but all I asked was just to repeat the list." Naruto said. 'Not yet. I can't really show them what I'm capable of'

"Naruto... JUST DO IT!"

"H-Hai!" stuttered Naruto and did the Clone Jutsu. The second the smoke appeared, all of the occupants of the room looked at it eagerly.

The smoke cleared and it revealed a poorly made clone. It looked like it didn't even have the energy to stand up and was flopped helplessly on the floor with it's tongue lolling out.

Iruka facepalmed. Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. The other students laughed at Naruto's very poor performance.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but... you fail..."

* * *

The Academy Grounds was filled with laughter and happiness as countless students and their parents talked happily. The parents congratulated their children and promised them new things and special dinners. One family in particular stood out. It was the Uzumaki-Namikaze family. Minato smiled warmly at his daughter and Kushina placed her hands around her.

They didn't notice that a boy was looking at them sadly. Sure he knew this would happen if he would keep hiding his true abilities and he thought he was prepared for it but it still hurt badly when he saw his so called family being happy without him. It hurt when he did something that would make him look very disappointing to his parents and his sister accomplished it instead of him and was now praised even more. He never lost sight of them until they left the grounds, obviously going off to celebrate. Since he knew that they wouldn't be back until late at night, he decided to stay here for a little while longer.

"Well, well... If it isn't Naruto-kun. What are you doing here?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" Naruto spun around and saw Mizuki standing there. "M-Mizuki-sensei? What are you doing here?"

Mizuki took a step closer to Naruto. "You know, Naruto, I personally think that your performance was very passable. I wanted to pass you. Your determination by itself is already enough to make you pass. But Iruka was against it."

"Iruka-sensei was... against it?" Naruto asked, not wanting to believe it.

"Yup. It almost seemed like he didn't really want you to pass."

"But... he wouldn't..."

"Oh yes he did, Naruto. I was beside him the whole time."

"But..."

"Tell you what Naruto," Mizuki said. "Since I'm also one of the examiners and I personally thought that you are very passable, I'll let you do another test. All you have to do is to get one of the Yondaime's notes and hand it to me. But you have to do this tonight. If you decide to do it, wait for me at the forest. Y'know... by that abandoned shack. It's your choice if whether or not you'll do it. I'll see you then."

* * *

"Dad, I had a lot of fun today!" Keiko said as she climbed up the stairs with her parents. They had just finished celebrating Keiko's graduation and were now going to their bedrooms. "Hey, I heard from Akido Hanako that Naruto didn't pass the exam."

"He-He what now!?" yelled Minato.

"What? You didn't know?" Keiko asked.

"Where is he?" Minato asked, now becoming angry.

"Now, now, Minato. I'm sure it's just a lie. Why don't we just ask him ourselves, ne?" Kushina said, hoping to calm Minato down.

"Fine. Keiko, get your brother." Minato ordered.

"Hai, Tou-san."

* * *

"Get up, loser!" barked Keiko as she opened the door to Naruto's room a bit roughly.

Naruto woke up from his sleep and looked up at Keiko. "Something up?" he asked as he got up.

"I wouldn't be so relaxed if I were you. Tou-san wants to talk about, oh I don't know, someone's graduation exam." Keiko said and looked at Naruto.

Naruto gulped audibly and followed Keiko outside the room.

* * *

"Naruto," Minato said as he paced back and forth in front of Naruto, who was kneeling on the floor. Kushina and Keiko could only watch the scene unfold right before their eyes. "I heard that you didn't pass the Exams. Is that true?"

Naruto stayed silent. Minato became angrier than he was right now and yelled, "Answer me!"

Naruto mumbled something inaudible.

"Again?"

"...n-no. I... I didn't p-pass." Before Naruto could say anything else, Minato slapped him. Naruto fell backwards and slowly felt his stinging cheek. He looked at Minato with shock.

"Why? Why didn't you pass the exams, huh? You're a Namikaze! You're even a descendant of the feared Uzumaki clan during the war! You're a hokage's son for heaven's sake! How could you put on that kind of performance that would change the villager's view on us?"

Naruto chuckled slightly. "So this is about your reputation again, isn't it?"

"What?"

"This is just another talk about me tarnishing your reputation again, isn't it? Why don't you just come out and say it?"

"Naruto, why are we getting into that? I'm talking about your problem here." said Minato.

"My problem? Or _your_ problem?"

"MY problem? YOU'RE the one who didn't graduate here!"

"And what? I'm gonna make you look bad in the eyes of the villagers again?"

"Don't take that tone of voice with me young man!"

"Oh, don't you even dare lecture me! Don't you dare! I grew up without the both of you at my side and I never sought guidance from any of you."

"What? Where'd you get that?"

Naruto laughed. "You don't even know how my life turned out, do you?"

Minato didn't answer. As much as he would've liked to throw something back at him, he couldn't. All he could do was to stay silent.

"That's what I thought. All you ever cared about was your reputation. You never even thought of what might happen when you cursed me, did you? Well, you know what? It's too late. You could have chosen the path where you'd care for me as much as you'd care for Keiko. But what did you do? You tossed me aside like trash and adored Keiko. Play favorites much?"

Minato didn't even say anything.

"So now what? Are happy with the decisions you made? I hope so. Cause you know as well as I do that you can't turn back time."

With that, Naruto left. Minato stared blankly at the spot where Naruto had just occupied a few seconds ago.

* * *

"Just wait for me, Mizuki-sensei. I'll hand this notebook over to you and I'll become Genin. I'll show them all!" Naruto said as he put on his ninja attire and jumped out of the window, leaving a Kage Bunshin on his bed just in case if somebody comes knocking.

"Just you wait and see..." he said, zipping up his black and gray hoodie and disappearing into the night.

* * *

A/N: Okay! That was by far, the LONGEST chapter I've written. Hope you're at least a bit satisfied cause I AM!

Please review! Please? (T^T) I'm begging u!

Come on! It's just this little box right

HERE

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	4. Chapter 4: Memories

"Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto's voice called out to the empty clearing. As he walked slowly towards it, the cold evening breeze blew through his shirt. "Geez... I wish I wore thicker clothes." he said.

Naruto walked slowly towards the old and abandoned shack and sat down. Rubbing his hands together, he looked around for a little glimpse of the silver-haired Chuunin. Still, no one came. Another gust of wind blew and Naruto wrapped his arms tightly around himself. His hands lightly brushed against the notebook he put in his pocket. Naruto looked at it for a while before taking it out and opening it.

* * *

"Hmm?" Mizuki said as he heard something beep on his right arm. He took a look at it and noticed that it was the device he used to monitor the area where he said he'd meet Naruto. He took it off his arm and pressed one of it's buttons. The tiny machine beeped and it's screen flashed into life and showed a boy sitting by the shack and holding a notebook.

Mizuki chuckled evilly. "What a fool!"

With that, he took off and headed towards the village. He went straight to the Hokage's office but his secretary told him that Minato went home about an hour ago. Cursing his luck, Mizuki went towards the Hokage's house. Once he arrived, he spoke to one of the ANBU and told him that it was urgent and he needed to see the Hokage at once. The ANBU let him in and led him to the living room. Minato came in a few minutes later with a sleepy-looking Kushina.

"What's this about?" asked Minato.

Mizuki bowed low and said, "Hokage-sama. I'm sad to say that your son, Namikaze Naruto, has stolen one of your notes and has ran away with it. A civilian told me about it and before I could see where he went, he was gone."

"Naruto... WHAT!?" Minato exclaimed. "It's important that we get those notes at once! ANBU! Round up as many as you can without decreasing our village's defense. The same goes for you too, Mizuki. Round up Chuunins and some available Jounins if you can. If any of you see Naruto, bring him directly to me. Is that clear?"

"Hai!"

* * *

"Let's see..." Naruto muttered as he flipped through the pages of the notebook. "What's with Mizuki-sensei anyway? Why did he want me to bring over this old thing? I doubt dad would put anything significantly important here... let's see here... training blah, blah, blah... went to Iwa blah, blah, blah... a meeting at Suna... a trip to the spa?" Naruto shook his head.

For a few more minutes, Naruto kept flipping through the pages when something caught his eye. "A Collection of Wind Based Jutsus..." Naruto read. "Sounds promising..." he said and read through the entire section. "Well, let's see... we've got... **Futon: Daitoppa **(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)... The user blows out a powerful blast of wind, which can easily level a large area... cool. Oh! **Kaze no Yaiba** (Blade of Wind)... This Jutsu creates a blade out of wind which, being wind, makes it impossible to block. However, unlike the **Kamaitachi no Jutsu**, this Jutsu requires no tool. **Kamaitachi no Jutsu**? What's that?" Naruto said and flipped through the pages again. He found what he was looking for and read it aloud.

"**Kamaitachi no Jutsu** (Cutting Whirlwind Technique)... A Jutsu that, using a giant fan or similar, creates huge gusts of wind mixed with chakra capable of cutting the target apart. This whirlwind is powerful enough to repel and destroy multiple types of throwing weapons and can even reflect sound waves right back at their original source. I have to have a weapon? Like a giant fan? What? Where would I even get weapons? Wait... what's this? Uh... **Daikamaitachi no Jutsu** (Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique)... A more powerful version of Kamaitachi no Jutsu." Naruto sighed. "Weapons, huh? I doubt kunais would suffice." Naruto flipped through the notebook again. He then saw something interesting but the annoying wind blew the pages so he lost sight of it.

Seriously annoyed, Naruto raised his hand and sliced it through the air, making the wind stop. "Sheesh! Now, where was I?" he said and flipped back. "Ah! Here it is!" Naruto exclaimed when he found it. "...after I finally perfected a purely chakra Rasengan, I had an idea. I thought that if elements can be strengthened by chakra, then maybe I can do it the other way around. If I will be successful, the rasengan would be powered by my element, which is wind. I haven't actually tried it yet but I have a feeling that this jutsu might be successful..." He closed the Notebook but he bookmarked the page he left off with his finger. "A rasengan... powered by an element. That actually sounds pretty cool. I'd like to see what it's effects will be. I bet it'll be really cool." Naruto said then an idea came to his head. He suddenly smiled.

"Wait. Why am I just sitting around when there's a lot of jutsu's to learn?"

* * *

"Any sign of him yet?" Iruka asked to a nearby Chuunin.

"I'm afraid not." the Chuunin answered.

Iruka sighed and let the other Chuunin leave him to search for Naruto.

"Naruto... What have you gotten yourself into?" Iruka said and continued his searched. "Just where are you?"

Something silver caught his eye as he rounded a corner. At first he thought that it was just a trick of the light but when he looked at it closely, he realized that it was Mizuki. "Nani? (What?)"

Iruka followed him and realized that they were heading into the forest. "What's Mizuki doing here? And why is he dressed like it's war or something" The said Chuunin was indeed dressed for war. He had two Dai Shuriken on his back and his pockets and holsters looked stuffed.

Mizuki didn't seem to notice him yet. Iruka would glance around every now and then but what made him uneasy was that they were heading deeper and deeper into the forest. Still, Mizuki made no signs of stopping. Minutes later, he could hear the sound of water, like a stream was nearby. A few more jumps and steps later, he found out that he was right. Mizuki stopped at a tree overlooking the clearing below. Iruka followed his gaze and he was shocked when he saw that Naruto was there, looking deadbeat tired.

But it looked like he was still alert.

"Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto said when he saw Mizuki.

Mizuki didn't step down from the tree, instead, he kept on staring at Naruto.

"Hey, Mizuki-sensei! Come on! I've got the notebook! I've been waiting for hours! Pass me already!" yelled Naruto, waving the notebook around.

"Urusai, demon!" Mizuki yelled and threw a kunai at him. Luckily, Naruto managed to dodge it.

"M-Mizuki-sensei...?"

Mizuki suddenly laughed. "D'you really think I'll let you pass? You think I'm stupid? Everyone in this village knows! Everyone knows the consequence of letting you become a shinobi!"

"Mizuki-sensei? What... what are you talking about? Y-You said... you said that... if I bring you this notebook... then... then you'll let me pass. Wasn't that what you said?"

"You're so NAIVE! Why would I pass you? You don't even know what you've done, do you?" Mizuki spat.

"W-What...?"

"YOU STOLE ONE OF THE YONDAIME'S NOTEBOOKS! Hahahahaha! You're in for it now, demon!"

"I... I didn't..." Naruto whispered.

"What? Does it hurt to hear the truth? Hahahahaha!"

"...N-No... I..."

"Demon! Demon! Demon!"

"N-No...no... s-stop it..."

"DEMO-"

"STOP IT!" yelled Naruto and raised his fist, ready to punch Mizuki. Mizuki scoffed and held up one of the Dai Shuriken. He threw it at Naruto. To his surprise, Naruto avoided it.

"What?"

Naruto charged faster at him and aimed his fist at him. He managed to land a blow on Mizuki's stomach and sent him flying to one of the nearby trees.

Naruto fell to his knees, trying to hold back his tears.

"I'm... I'm not a demon... I'm..."

Horrible memories of his childhood flashed inside his mind. Naruto shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to recall any of them. He didn't want to hear those people call him a demon again. But no matter how hard he tried, the memories just wouldn't stop.

_Flashback_

_"Come on! Come on Keiko! Show me what you've got..." encouraged Minato as his daughter stood in front of a practice dummy. He was teaching her some taijutsu for... something. But he was sure that she could somehow use it in the near future. But Keiko wasn't really doing so well at this taijutsu thing. They've been going at it for hours but Keiko still didn't manage to do a single acceptable kick or punch that would deal enough damage to even a Genin._

_Naruto and Kushina were watching them from the patio. Kushina made them some drinks and snacks for when they were done. Naruto was just sitting there, waiting for his turn for his father to teach him. But with Minato's focus entirely on Keiko, the chances of him actually getting to train with his father are slim._

_"Dear, don't you think that's enough for now? Come and rest for a while." Kushina called when she saw Keiko about to throw a tantrum in her frustration._

_"Huh? Oh. Hai. Coming." Minato said and he picked up the five - year old on the ground. "Come on, Keiko-chan. Let's rest for a while, ne?"_

_Keiko just nodded and let Minato carry her to where Kushina was waiting. Once Minato set her down, he went over to Kushina and his eyes caught sight of his son's blond hair. Minato thought about it for a while before going over to Naruto and placing a hand on his shoulder. _

_Surprised, Naruto looked up at Minato and for a moment, he felt his father tense up and pulling back. But he held himself together and determinedly looked at him with, to Naruto, a forced smile._

_"How are you doing?" Minato asked, attempting to at least start a forced conversation._

_"I'm... I'm f-fine..." Naruto answered. "Dad? Can I train too? I wanna try those kicks."_

_Minato blinked in surprise. He didn't expect this question from Naruto so soon. Sure, he wanted to, but there was always that fear he felt every time he saw Naruto. The memory of his third birthday still haunted him. _

_Because he gave Naruto's favorite cupcake to Keiko, Naruto started to cry and throw a tantrum. Minato and Kushina began to scold him but Naruto only cried harder. Just when Minato was about to resort to yelling at him, Naruto's eyes began to change. A demonic aura started to radiate from him and his teeth were slowly sharpening into fangs. By the time his eyes became completely red with slits in the middle, a malevolent red chakra cloaked him and his whisker marks became much more pronounced as they became thicker. _

_Minato immediately sprang into action and suppressed the seal before he would attack them or rampage in the village. He would've loved to say that he had been able to seal back the chakra lickity-split, but it took him a few minutes, some singed eyebrows, a pair of ripped trousers, a cut or two, and a completely destroyed patio to get the seal on him and bring Naruto back.  
_

_Of course, this wasn't the only time it happened. It usually ranged from a few weeks, days even, when Naruto lost control of the Kyuubi and almost transformed. His outbursts cost him a few injured people every now and then. Heck, even the pre-school where his kids were sent was destroyed. As were a few buildings and the park. _

_Minato and the ANBU tried to place a few more security measures on Naruto then they would go back to their daily routine. But even with their heightened security, the damage Naruto caused during his outbursts weren't lessened. In fact, they only seemed like they were increasing. As Naruto grew, his ability to take control of some of the fox's chakra increased. But so were the chances of him causing more damage when he lost it.  
_

_The villagers had enough, however, and they demanded that Naruto be removed from the village at once. Some even suggested that he should be killed. Minato tried to make them understand that Naruto was ... special, but the villagers did not hear him out. So, Minato proposed to keep his son inside their grounds for his entire lifetime, never letting him out of his sight, just in case he might lose control again. The villagers agreed with his idea.  
_

_Everything went smoothly from there... That was until Naruto tried to go outside on his fourth birthday. Chaos immediately ensued. But luckily, Kakashi and Itachi were on duty that time so Naruto was brought back immediately. Of course, it left Minato with a lot of stress and paperwork and council meetings just to get things right again.  
_

_"Dad?"  
_

_Minato blinked and looked at Naruto. "Oh... You were saying?"_

_Naruto pouted, which would've made Minato smile at his cuteness, but the fox immediately came to mind again. He shook his head and ruffled his son's hair, though a bit halfheartedly.  
_

_"Dad... I said I wanted to train." Naruto said.  
_

_"Oh... ehm... er..." Minato stammered. 'Should I?'  
_

_"Dad?"_

_"Erm... well... s-sure..."_

_Naruto beamed and immediately ran towards the practice dummy, copying the stance that Minato did earlier. He managed to do an okay kick but all it did was to make the dummy wobble on it's post._

_Naruto frowned. He thought he did a good job..._

_He did it again, still, the results were the same. And he tried again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. But still, the only thing the dummy did was to wobble and swing on it's wooden post. Naruto glared at it and kicked it again, this time though, he missed and hit the wooden post instead. Pain immediately seared through his foot and he hopped around clutching his foot in agony. _

_"Stupid dummy!" Naruto shouted, and for a moment, his normally blue irises, became red. He blinked for a moment and his eye color went back to normal. "Gah! Why won't this stupid thing..."_

_He tried kicking it again for several times but the dummy, it seemed, was as stubborn and unmoving as it looks._

_Finally having enough, Naruto kicked the dummy in his rage. But this kick was not like the ones he did before. This time, his foot got enveloped with red chakra and as soon as it hit the dummy, it snapped in half and the half that was broken off, flew towards Minato, landing at his feet._

_Naruto blinked and looked at the half of the dummy still intact with the post. Then a grin crept to his face. "YES! I DID IT! YEAH!"_

_He turned to look at his parents, expecting them to praise him, but when he turned around, he saw a shaken, pale-faced, Minato holding the other half of the dummy, and a frightened Kushina shielding Keiko from him._

_End Flashback_

"I'm not a demon... I'm not..." Naruto whispered. "No more..." he moaned as he tried to stop the memories flooding inside his head. "Stop..."

_Flashback (again)_

_"Kids, we are having a taijutsu lesson today!" Iruka announced when he arrived in the classroom._

_The children cheered loudly. They loved taijutsu lessons. For one, it was not hard like ninjutsu, shuriken practicing, stealth training, and definitely, waaaay easier than genjutsu. Genjutsu was easily **the** most hated subject by almost every student. Reason two was that they could use taijutsu as an excuse for beating up Naruto._

_Iruka led them outside and told them to get in line. They did it, although a bit noisily, and waited patiently for their teacher to carry on with their lesson. Iruka placed a practice dummy in front of them and faced his students. _

_"Right... well, today's lesson, is all about attack." He said, kicking the dummy and easily snapping it in half. The kids mouth fell open in awe at their teacher's strength. "But in order to do that, each one of us must first learn what our fighting styles are. Through knowing, we can determine a training method that will suit our style and get stronger. If you manage to do that, then you'll easily do **that**." Iruka said, gesturing to the destroyed dummy._

_"But since you're still kids, your fighting styles aren't clear yet. That's why we teachers in the Academy guide you through these basic taijutsu classes to try and see what your fighting styles are. By the end of this schoolyear, your basic taijutsu classes will end. You all know what that means right?" The students nodded. "Yes. That's right. We'd already have guessed what kind of fighting style you might possess and you'd have moved on to your next training, which is directly under a teacher who uses a fighting style the same as you."_

_Iruka smiled at them. "So don't you worry if you're bad at some of these things. That only means that this type doesn't suit you and you simply need to find one which you'll excel at and focus on it. So, ready for the first step?"_

_They nodded excitedly and Iruka replaced the dummy in front of them. "Make sure that line is straight!"_

_They scrambled to their feet and stood quite still after forming their line. Iruka chuckled and said, "Right. The first step, is to find out if you have strength for attacks that uses brute force. One way to tell, is by damaging this dummy, like I did. Don't worry though. Since this is everyone's first try, you can do anything you want. You can punch it, kick it, elbow it, even bite it for Kami's sake. But just remember one thing, don't ever wing it if you don't want to suffer unbearable pain. And do your best. Because whoever manages to land the strongest blow and do the greatest damage to this thing will be exempted from the test tomorrow."_

_The kids gulped._

_"Well, then let's begin!"_

_One by one, they all tried. But not even one of them managed to do any serious damage to the dummy. They punched and they kicked but it just wasn't enough. Naruto thought that Hinata's attempt was a bit... unusual. Long story short, she slapped the dummy. That's how it looked like to him anyway. Uchiha Sasuke managed to take off it's head. At least he did some damage to it right? Keiko tried punching the dummy multiple times and she only managed to scratch it though. _

_If there was one thing Namikaze Keiko couldn't do in their lessons, it was taijutsu. She just plainly sucks at this field._

_All too soon, it was Naruto's turn. He timidly positioned himself in front of the dummy. He tried remembering some attacks his father did and he remembered one clearly. It was the one on his sixth birthday. The most horrible day of Naruto's life so far. He went into the stance his father did and started doing the moves he did and he copied every single one perfectly. Not a single detail was overlooked. _

_The dummy split in two, just like Iruka's demonstration. Naruto looked around him and was a bit surprised when he saw his classmates giving him disapproving looks. Iruka was pinching the bridge of his nose._

_"W-What...?"_

_Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of his classmates lean to another one and whisper something to his ear. _

_"He used **that** again..." Naruto heard him say._

_"Wha-?" Naruto said. "What do you mean...?"_

_"Using **that** just to get exempted from a test? That's low..." another kid whispered._

_"Cheater!"_

_"He's always does that!"_

_"Yeah! Remember that time in ninjutsu class? He used **that** just to make his jutsu stronger than ours..."_

_"And that time when we were learning genjutsu... he used **that** too..."_

_"Seriously... why doesn't he just quit it?"_

_"Yeah... we're not idiots..."_

_"We can totally see that he's cheating by using that... that **thing's** power..."_

_"He really is just a demon..."_

_Naruto's eyes widened. Why were they saying that? It was clear that he did it all by himself._

_"Come on... let's go."_

_"Yeah... before the demon starts using us as his next practice dummies and snaps us in half."_

_"But..." Naruto whispered as everyone started to leave. "I did it myself... I wasn't using the fox's chakra..."_

_"He's lying again..."_

_"Why doesn't he just admit that he did it?"_

_"Yeah... or better yet, maybe he should stop doing it..."_

_"Cheater!"_

_"Demon!"_

_"N-No... you're wrong... It was me... I did it myself... I didn't use the Kyuubi's chakra..." Naruto said. "Come back..."_

_End Flashback_

Naruto stood up and looked at the spot where Mizuki had been thrown off. He was slowly getting up. Naruto just sighed and readied himself.

Ever since that day, he just tried hiding his skills so his classmates wouldn't taunt him anymore. He tried being on their skill level, but his classmates still got mad at him and still accused him of cheating. Naruto tried ignoring them at first, but then he realized that they would stop at nothing. He then, just decided to hide his skills altogether.

That went well, for most of the time. He wasn't being sneered at most of the time and people mostly left him alone. He supposed that this was at least a bit better than being jeered at, taunted, sneered at, and beaten up everyday.

"Well..." said a voice that snapped him out of his thoughts. Mizuki seemed to have recovered. "It seems like you really have mastered you're powers, demon..."

"Y'know... a long time ago... you would've made me cry and let you beat me up. But now, I'm different. I realized, that I don't need to be affected by what other people think. Because I know, that I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't use the demon, I didn't lie, I never cheated, and most importantly, I believed in myself and trained and got stronger. Me. Not the demon, but me. Why can't you people understand that?"

Mizuki laughed. "Oh I understand alright. I understand that you let yourself believe on a false thought and lived your life a lie. It's better if you weren't around. Maybe then, my friends would still be alive! Why don't you just die!" Mizuki screamed and charged at Naruto, a kunai in his hand.

Naruto smiled sadly. He didn't want to do this, but Mizuki left him no choice.

"Sorry... Mizuki..."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there you have it. The reason why Naruto hid his skills. He had a tough childhood. Ooooohhh... cliffhanger... I seem to be loving them lately... meh. -_-


	5. Chapter 5: Big Mistake Mizuki

"Sorry... Mizuki..." Naruto whispered as the chuunin charged towards him.

"DIE DEMON!" Mizuki yelled as he prepared two kunais on each of his hands and threw them expertly at Naruto. Naruto just stood there motionless as the kunais came speeding towards him. Mizuki grinned at the stupidity of the brat and prepared two more kunais. To his surprise, Naruto suddenly disappeared from his spot in front of him. The kunais from earlier hit the ground with a soft piercing sound.

_'What the? Where'd he-'_

"Behind you... sensei."

Mizuki's eyes widened and he immediately twisted his body around to face the kid. Once he did however, he was met with a strong punch to his jaw. It sent him a few feet backwards. He swore he lost a teeth or two from the punch.

"Damn. That actually stings, you brat!" he yelled at Naruto as he wiped off some blood with his sleeve. "No matter. I'm just getting started." He stood straight and cracked his knuckles menacingly at Naruto.

Naruto looked at him with an emotionless expression.

"What's the matter brat?" Mizuki said, stepping closer. "Now then, why don't you just give me that notebook, and you go kill yourself-"

"Don't screw around with me." Naruto interrupted. His grip on the notebook tightened. "You don't know how pissed off you've made me."

Mizuki laughed. "Pissed off? Pissed off? I didn't think demons could still be calm enough to get pissed off!"

"I told you to stop it." Naruto said quietly. The wind around him suddenly became violent and strong. Mizuki watched with wide eyes as Naruto stepped closer towards him. He pulled out the katana he had brought with him and attempted to place it between the kid and himself.

"Stay away, demon!" he yelled as he brandished the katana in front of the calm yet deadly looking Naruto. "Don't you dare come any closer!"

Naruto continued taking steps towards the terrified Mizuki. The wind had stopped and an eerie silence filled the air around them. Then it was suddenly replaced by an extreme pressure. Naruto looked at Mizuki squarely in the eye. He was dead serious. He raised his hand as though he were about to strike. Mizuki closed his eyes, afraid of the incoming attack. The wind seemed to follow Naruto's movements as he brought down his hand in a quick sweeping motion. Mizuki cringed as he felt wind brush up on his cheeks, signaling the oncoming attack.

He waited.

But the attack never came. Instead, he heard the sound of the blade of his katana smack down the ground, clanging loudly.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and he was quick to avert his gaze. For there, in front of him, was a boy... a demon, glaring down at him with demonic brutality and bloodthirst. He was looking at him with such cold eyes that he can't help but shake uncontrollably in his presence. Unwanted shivers ran down his spine as he gulped audibly at the hopeless situation that he was in.

Iruka watched in silent horror as Naruto swooped down on Mizuki with such an incredible speed. Why, it could even rival the Yondaime's Hiraishin No Jutsu! It was just like the stories of the people who watched the Yondaime in action. All they could see was a yellow blur... a yellow flash, and the enemy would be taken down.

He actually felt sorry for Mizuki. It was his own fault anyway. He had provoked Naruto and from what he had gathered, he had tricked him into retrieving the Yondaime's notes. Maybe he was a spy? Had Mizuki turned into their enemy?

Iruka knew he couldn't just sit here and watch without doing anything to stop them. He was about to jump out and protect Naruto from those kunais Mizuki threw at him the first time, but he stopped in his tracks when he saw Naruto vanish from his previous spot and suddenly reappeared in a flash behind Mizuki. Since when can Naruto do that?

He never exceeded in any of their lessons. He was easily the one who had the lowest grade of them all. It was really hard to believe that the serious and skilled blond before him was the same blond idiot he scolded in class everyday. If this was his student's true strength... then how much had he held back? How strong was he?

"Listen, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto's voice echoed through the clearing. This snapped Iruka out of his thoughts and he was focused at the scene in front of him once again. "I've done stupid things in order to get this far. One of those is getting this notebook even though I know that the punishment for doing this is terribly painful."

Mizuki tried to look away from his eyes as he gripped the tree trunk that he had been holding on to ever since Naruto had him backed up against the tree. "Whaddya want kid?! Spit it out!"

Naruto punched the area right next to Mizuki's left ear and the spot where his fist made contact with had formed a deep crater. "Why did you want my father's notebook?!"

Mizuki closed his eyes in fright. _Darn! I made sure I was careful and alert in my movements. He never expected to get caught by the demon like this._ "I'll... never tell, b-brat!" he spat as he cowered under Naruto's glare. The pressure around them intensified even more and it was as if gravity had suddenly become stronger as he slid down the tree. His face and palms were sweaty and his head pounded. His brain was telling him to run. To get away from the monster that was Naruto.

Even with Naruto's small stature, he easily towered over Mizuki in his superiority over him. His eyes showed anger. Lots of them. Iruka figured that it was just the anger he acquired after finding out about Mizuki's betrayal.

Iruka frowned. It was dangerous for Naruto to become this angry. He might lose control and summon some of the Kyuubi's power. Maybe it was time he intervened. He stood up from his squatting position behind the bushes and he was about to take a step forward when Naruto's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"You're a spy, aren't you?" he heard Naruto's voice say. Iruka's eyes widened.

_A spy? Mizuki?_ No. It was impossible. He had his fair shair of times when he was paired with Mizuki. He was a gentle ninja. A bit quiet but he was gentle, nonetheless. He couldn't believe the guy who went to the Academy everyday, greeting the kids happily with his smile, was a vicious criminal who worked for their enemy.

"Who are you working for?" asked Naruto forcefully. His question echoed around the clearing, making it sound more menacing than he intended. "Tell me."

Mizuki shook his head from the ground. "Never!"

"Fess up, Mizuki! You're already in a lot of trouble!" the blond yelled. The guy was frightened enough as it is. Maybe if he could threaten him some more, he would talk. "Tell me!"

Iruka went back behind the bushes and watched them. It seems that Naruto was still in control. He didn't feel any of the Kyuubi's chakra from him. They were safe for now. Though, he couldn't say the same for Mizuki. Naruto had been bearing down on him for quite a while now. But Iruka knew Naruto better than anyone else. He knew the boy was just trying to get information from Mizuki. By using the angry and I'm-gonna-kick-your-butt method. But for the entire time, Naruto was just bluffing. He had never tried to do any real harm to Mizuki.

Was he reluctant? Did he feel pity for the chuunin? Or did he just not want to hurt him?

But why wouldn't Naruto hurt Mizuki? He'd been lied to all this time. Why couldn't he bring himself to hurt the guy?

Then Iruka reminded himself, a smile forming on his lips. Naruto was kind. He never hurt anyone until he absolutely had to. He turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the jeers and insults from everyone. He looked past the hurtful things they did to him and saw the light and wonder in everything. That's what he didn't like about him. He was too naive.

Everything in this world couldn't possibly be solved by things like kindness and pity. To survive as a ninja, he had to be strong enough to know which enemies are which and he should be prepared to hurt anyone who will come in his way.

But Naruto could do none of tha-

*smack*

Iruka immediately looked up. He gave out a gasp at what had happened.

Naruto...

...just punched...

...Mizuki...

He gaped at the sight. Sure, Naruto had beaten up Mizuki ever since he arrived and attacked him... but those were just self defense stuff. Right now... he was actually using Mizuki as his punching bag.

Mizuki spit out some blood and looked up at Naruto. Now, he seemed to have abandoned his fear as he leered at the jinchuuriki.

Iruka frowned at that. Mizuki had been acting weirdly ever since he arrived. At first, he was cocky and would constantly taunt Naruto... then, when Naruto would land a hit on him or tower over him, it was like something would snap inside his head and he would freeze for a split second before starting to whimper. When Naruto had knocked him into the tree when he first attacked, he stayed down and he seemed to be fighting an internal battle with himself. It seemed like the cocky side won when he emerged from the bits of the smashed tree.

And right now, his other side lost again and he could see clearly from Mizuki's face, that he had reverted back to the cocky side. He didn't mind the punches that Naruto was giving him. Slowly, he slid his hand to his weapon pouch at his side. Naruto didn't notice his actions. He was starting to get frustrated at the chuunin. No matter how many punches he gave him, it seemed like he wasn't planning on talking any time soon.

Mizuki's hand eventually found the inside of the pouch. He gave Naruto a smirk. Iruka's eyes widened.

"NARUTO! WATCH OUT!" he yelled as he immediately jumped out of the bushes to pull Naruto out of the way from Mizuki's attack. Naruto's eyes widened when he saw him. He didn't seem too shocked at seeing the scarred chuunin. Perhaps he already sensed his presence earlier.

Iruka didn't have time to examine Naruto's features any longer, as he shunshin'ed beside him and pulled him out of the way. Mizuki froze for a second before taking out multiple kunais and shurikens from his pouch. He immediately threw them in Naruto's direction. Iruka immediately turned around to protect him from the incoming weapons.

"Aargh!" Iruka grunted in pain as the weapons made contact with his back.

Time seemed to slow for Naruto as he watched small splatters of blood fly off from his back with wide eyes.

"I-Iruka... sensei...?" Naruto said. He watched in terror as his teacher gave a pained expression before exhaling his breath. A trickle of blood slowly slid down his chin from his mouth. Iruka coughed and sprayed a few droplets of blood on Naruto's face.

Naruto's eyes widened as Iruka's features twisted in an expression of pain once again before he fell to his knees. Naruto was quick to catch him and support his friend gently so he could let him down on the grass. His eyes swept over his teacher's appearance before his his expression turned into one of fury. His head snapped back to the spot where Mizuki was standing and got to his feet.

"Now you've done it Mizuki, you bastard!" Naruto yelled as he cracked his knuckles at him.

Mizuki did the same as he prepared the dai shuriken on his back. "Bring it."

Naruto glared at him.

In one swift motion, he formed a sign with his hands and yelled, "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Hundreds of Naruto's clones poofed into existence all over their surroundings. Mizuki's eyeballs bulged from their sockets as he took in the sight of so many Naruto's around them. And all of them were glaring at him.

_Im-Impossible! He never even got the Academy Level Clone Jutsu right! This can't be happening!_ Mizuki thought as he gaped at the sight in front of him. He wanted to back away from the army of Naruto's but he knew that there were probably more behind him.

"You..." all the clones started to speak. Their voices joined in with each others in sync as they formed a gigantic, booming voice around the normally quiet forest. The word echoed endlessly around them, making Mizuki's head spin. "You just made the worst mistake of your life."

Slowly, Naruto raised his right hand. The clone nearest to him nodded and immediately did quick jabbing motions over the outstretched palm of his right hand. A small glowing ball of chakra eventually formed on his palm and it got bigger, the longer the clone would jab. Finally, the "helper" clones poofed out of existence and the Naruto's who were holding the swirling ball of chakra were left behind. They stood menacingly over Mizuki.

"Never. Piss off. This. Brat." Naruto whispered in a deadly voice and without warning, all of the clones jumped up into the air and yelled, "RASENGAN!"

They all jumped down on him and there was a split-second of silence before-

BOOM!

The explosion knocked Iruka back a few feet. He struggled to see what was going on inside that bright light. Naruto might have been caught up in that explosion. "Naruto! NARUTO!" he called over the howling winds and blinding white light. He couldn't take the brightness anymore and he was forced to shield his eyes.

Once the rumbling noises around him died down to a still and eerie silence, Iruka opened his eyes.

The first thing that he saw was the sight of Naruto scratching the back of his head sheepishly as he stood next to a battered looking Mizuki with a huge lump on his head. Naruto saw Iruka watching him and he smiled brightly at him.

"Sorry... got a little carried away." he said as he gestured to the deep crater around him and Mizuki. Iruka watched the small craters that the multiple rasengans formed. The damage that each one did was so great. All of the craters seemed to form a thick yet small circled around Naruto and Mizuki's unconscious form. It seemed like Naruto never really aimed to hit Mizuki.

"I was just threatening him... I just punched him in the head." Naruto explained. That certainly explained the lump on the silver-haired chuunin's head.

Iruka smiled at Naruto and he exhaled loudly. "Geez Naruto... what am I going to do with you?"

Naruto laughed and went over to him. Iruka smiled again and let Naruto sit beside him.

_'You did well, you knucklehead. Congratulations. You graduate.'_ Iruka said in his thoughts. That could wait until tomorrow. For now, the both of them were exhausted.

As Naruto adjusted his position next to Iruka, he said, "Ne, Iruka-jiji, can I graduate _now_?"

A vein popped up on Iruka's head. '_So much for waiting for tomorrow'_

* * *

**A/N: **Hello! Wow, it's been a long time! How are you guys? Is anyone still reading this? This chapter's crappy, I know. You don't have to rub it in. Sorry for making you guys wait. I'm sorry. I really am.


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